Comedy troupe feeds Hollywood hunger

PENETANGUISHENE – If James Dalzell could snap his fingers and pick a career path, he’d be starring alongside Will Smith in a big Hollywood comedy.

The Penetanguishene native has always wanted to be an actor, but, coming from a small town, he was never sure how to accomplish that. After working in California for a few months installing pool enclosures, he really caught the acting bug.

He returned to Ontario in 2006 and attended the Toronto Film School for acting.

“Once I finished school, I wanted to do as much acting as possible,” he recalled. “There was a girl I was working with that was doing a lot of sketch comedy. I was going to a lot of her shows and then started talking to a few people about getting into it ourselves.”

Dalzell, 30, and some friends formed a sketch troupe and began performing shows in a venue he described as “basically somebody’s apartment.”

“I found the sketch part very fun. It’s very creative and you get to write your own material and do your own characters.”

After a few years with that troupe, Dalzell took a small break before joining forces with some friends to create the Short Form Richards comedy troupe. It’s with that group that the Penetanguishene Secondary School graduate will perform in the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival from March 7-17.

“They take the best sketch groups in the city.… We are really excited to be accepted,” he said, adding they have been working to perfect some of their most popular sketches to ensure they put on the best show possible.

Dalzell lists Smith, Mike Myers and Jim Carey as his favourite funny men, and said he would love to one day follow in their footsteps.

“My goal is to be able to do as much acting as possible and make a career out of it,” he said. “I’d really love to be in L.A.